Humpback whales in Tonga - August 2018

I was in Tonga last August with Naia liveabord and I'd like to share my experience .

Naia is a well known liveaboard cruising Tonga during July , August and September and Fiji during the other months .

All on board is great : cabin , food , service , professional cruise director , wonderful fijian staff !

The trip was 10 days - 9 nights - 8 full day in water with humpback whales . A lot of time with only one target : .... whales !!

Seeing whales above water and underwater as well ( snorkeling only allowed )

I must confess at the beginning I was afraid to get bored , but day by day I understood that all that time is necessary to " get in touch " with the whales . This means not only take a snapshot but let the whales accept me in water !

As per tecnical details , I ask many friends had done same experience as well as internet research and I finally understood that is useful :

-use fisheye on Dslr ( or mirrorless ) : I used Canon 8-15 on Canon 80D

-use mid dome or minidome : I used ZEN 170 dome : a big dome is not really necessary because not possible many half-half and no worry about soften corner , and the cons is you have sto swimm a lot !

-use autofocus ( with all points active ) , water was very clear so no really problem with autofocus

I balanced ( neutral buoyancy and perfect trim ) my housing with some close cell foam all around it and it was very useful during the long hours in water .

Last important points :

-try to have the sun behind my back , because the only light is the natural light ( no flash allowed ) .

-go close !! ... or better , let the whales came close to me ... and the first days I made the mistake to use fishyey at 15 mm .. at the end I used only 10 mm ( on crop sensor ) and try to fill the frame to have to less water as possible from whales and my lens .

-be prepared to swimm a lot and a lot , so I trained myself intensive before this trip .